Reversal: To The End
by Higuchimon
Summary: Living as Haou's prisoner isn't the worst fate Ryou could have. But Haou plans to put him through what the worst fate actually is. [complete]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
 **Series Title:** Reversals|| **Story Title:** To The End  
 **Characters:** Ryou, Juudai, Camula|| **Romance:** N/A  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 1,544||story: 1,544|| **Chapters:** 1/3  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Challenge, G6, three-shot; GX Non-Flash Bingo, #052, shock; Valentine's Day to White Day 2015, day #7, at least 4,000 words in first person POV; Advent 2016, day #14, write about anything; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #26, write a fic to your average word count (4,714 words); Easter Egg Basket 2016, day #22, do a fic for one of your New Year's Resolutions; One Character Boot Camp, #34, destruction  
 **Challenge Location:** All challenges can be found at the Duel Monsters Writing Academy Forum on FFnet.  
 **Notes:** This takes place in the reversal AU, during Ryou's time as Haou's prisoner.  
 **Summary:** Living as Haou's prisoner isn't the worst fate Ryou could have. But Haou plans to put him through what the worst fate actually is.

* * *

I breathe. There isn't much more that I can do, hanging from chains that scarcely moved, let alone could be broken. I breathe, because I want to do it while I still can. Who knows how long it will be before Haou finally grows bored with torture and decides death will be the final punishment for the 'heinous crime' of spying on him?

Though he has said, more than once, that my ultimate fate will be something worse than death. Something he's looking forward to.

I have seen many things. Whatever would make him think something is worse than death isn't something I can figure out, not yet.

But I'll know, eventually. He won't be able to stop himself from telling me about it. He enjoys seeing fear on those he hurts.

I've seen it before, when I served at his court. It doesn't seem that long ago now. I've lost track of time in this hellish place. It could've been weeks or months. I don't think years. Not yet.

Though I wouldn't be at all surprised if it _becomes_ years before he's done with me.

I don't regret coming here. I only regret that I couldn't accomplish my mission. I can only hope that Edo chooses not to try again. Haou won't let himself be fooled a second time.

I do wonder if he ever actually was fooled by my act. I killed so many people at his command, but there was never the enjoyment that so many of those who truly serve him willingly have. I think he knew that.

I can hear him coming now. Another time of torment approaches. I very seldom screamed before I found myself in his dungeon. Nothing ever hurt enough for me to do it. Even when I saw people that I fought beside falling into death, there wasn't the kind of pain that would draw out a scream.

I scream a lot now. Almost whenever he wants me to.

I don't know if I hate him more for what he's done to this world, for what he's done to Johan, or what he's done to me. I am Hell Kaiser. I shouldn't scream because of being tortured.

But I do anyway. Whether I want to or not. And he knows it.

As always, he has no guards. What would he need them for? I have nothing, not even my clothes, let alone a duel disk or a deck. I don't know where mine are, any of those. They were all stripped away from me when I was brought down here.

So all I have when I look into his eyes, those filthy things of bright gold that promise even more pain every day, is what sternness I can muster.

It fades a little every day. I don't want it to. I hang on with what I have, but I already know how this will end. I knew the chance when I chose to come here. Having it approach doesn't improve anything.

"Hell Kaiser," he says, and there is a smirk on his lips, as there almost always is. He so enjoys seeing the results of other visits.

I raise up my head. I force myself to meet his eyes. It's not a wise thing to do, as I find myself sharply reminded when he rests a hand on my shoulder and there is _pain_.

I've experienced electric shocks, in the days before his rule crushed the world that we knew once. Haou's touch puts every shock I've ever known to shame, and it is that touch that yanks a stuttering scream from my lips.

I hate it. I hate him. And I can't do anything about either one.

He lifts his hand from my shoulder and moves it along to my chin, tilting my head back. He will allow me to look at him if he initiates it. If I try, then, as I've just been reminded, there is a price to pay.

"How much more do I have to hurt you before you learn how to address me properly? You said it before. It sounded very sweet when you did." His smirk slides into a sadistic grin. It's an expression he wears far too well. "Now, say it again, and say it right. I don't have all day to play with you."

Lies. He would take all day if he chose to. Only one other act pleases him more than seeing me in agony these days. He's been known to combine the two.

I would rather he just continued to hurt me than _that_ happen again. Some sights were never meant to be viewed.

But I seal my lips. He will tear the word from my lips; it's happened before. It will happen again.

He enjoys doing it. I know it; it's clear in everything he says and does.

There are some people who would go ahead and say it, who would deprive him of the pleasure of ripping it out of them. I am not one of them. Not because I want him to enjoy it, but because if he takes the time to do that, then it's less time he has to do other things to me or in front of me or anything else.

It's a small way to fight, but I will take what I can.

His smile today doesn't bode well. Not that it ever does, but something about it sends tingles of chill all through me, more so than ever before.

"You are a fool, Hell Kaiser. But a fool that I can find useful." He trails a finger from my chin up to my temple and there is _so much pain_ ; I can't think for how much there is. If I weren't chained to the wall, I would be on the floor, my legs unable to support me.

Death would be an escape. An end to the pain and the humiliation. That's why he denies it to me. But it cannot go on forever. I know his goal; he's never made a secret of it. He seeks to destroy all of creation, to the point nothing can revive ever again.

That includes me, sooner or later. All that remains is for _when_ and _how_.

Sometime, he stops the pain. I can't even be certain of how long it went on, only that I screamed and screamed, and I said anything that he wanted to hear.

I don't know how much time passes before the pain ends and I can think again. I expect him to be gone. He's had his fun for the day. That's what he does; spends time tormenting me, making me scream until I can't make noise anymore, and then departs, leaving me alone until he chooses to come back.

He's the only one allowed in here. He brings food, sometimes. Enough so I won't die, not so much that I ever really feel full or satisfied.

At least he doesn't make me beg for it. But to eat from his hands is worse.

He makes Johan beg for it. I've seen it happen. And Johan does so gladly, eagerly, as if it's a game between them.

I wish I could've killed him. General Johan isn't the Johan Andersen who led us for so long. This is nothing more than Haou's submissive toy.

I won't be like that. I _will_ die first.

I expect him to be gone. But he isn't. He stands there looking at me and I cannot describe his expression. He wants something that he's not getting and he does not like that.

That _never_ bodes well for anyone.

I stay quiet. My throat hurts too much for me to speak even if I wanted to. If it's something he can inflict on me to gain what he wants, he'll do it soon enough.

And again he tilts my head up so that he can stare down into my eyes. If it weren't for his touch, I couldn't keep my head up. He knows it. He must know it.

"I'm getting a little bored with you just hanging around here and screaming. I mean, the screaming is _nice_ , and I want you to do more of it. But I think it's time you did a lot more than be a wall ornament."

I can't answer. There's not enough strength in me. It always takes a while to recover after a 'session' with him, and this one seems to have been worse than usual.

He doesn't seem to expect one, though. He just looks down at me, and the look is horrible.

"I've been waiting for someone to come back before we move on to the next phase of your punishment. And she'll be back tomorrow night."

It falls into place as quickly as that. There's only one person, one woman, who would want to be involved in this, and who would return _at night_.

I've screamed enough for one day. But the thought of Camula seeing me like this, with only Haou's word between me and her…

I almost wish I could.

Haou can see it in my own expression. The satisfaction in his eyes says it. His smile makes that even worse.

"Rest while you can. You _will_ need it."

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
 **Series Title:** Reversals|| **Story Title:** To The End  
 **Character:** Ryou, Juudai  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 1,569||story: 3,113|| **Chapters:** 2/3  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Challenge, G6, three-shot; GX Non-Flash Bingo, #052, shock; Valentine's Day to White Day 2015, day #7, at least 4,000 words in first person POV; Advent 2016, day #14, write about anything; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #26, write a fic to your average word count (4,714 words); Easter Egg Basket 2016, day #22, do a fic for one of your New Year's Resolutions; One Character Boot Camp, #34, destruction  
 **Challenge Location:** All challenges can be found at the Duel Monsters Writing Academy Forum on FFnet.  
 **Notes:** This takes place in the reversal AU, during Ryou's time as Haou's prisoner.  
 **Summary:** Living as Haou's prisoner isn't the worst fate Ryou could have. But Haou plans to put him through what the worst fate actually is.

* * *

I can't sleep. I want to. Whatever the details of what Haou and Camula have planned – and they _must_ have something planned – it will be horrible. Nothing less would satisfy Haou's desires for suffering. Nothing less would satisfy _Camula_.

But to sleep would be to let my guard down. I cannot defend myself against them, much as it hurts to even think that. Naked, without weapons of any kind, chained, there is nothing I can do to stop them from doing whatever it is that they want to do.

I don't want to think about what Camula will have in mind. I fought her once and defeated her, and only the luck of not having been inside of a proper dueling circle spared her life. But from that moment, I know she's sought my life. I saw it in her eyes when our paths crossed here a few months ago.

Perhaps she dropped a word or two to Haou about the unlikeliness of me truly turning traitor to the rebellion. I recall the look in her eyes on that occasion, and it held nothing more nor less than sheer amusement. She knew something then, whether or not she let on to anyone else.

I do not know why she works with Haou. I've never had a conversation with her that lasted longer than a few sentences, nor have I wanted one.

I know that I first encountered her when she tried to hunt down Shou. She even took some of his blood, though thankfully not enough to harm him.

Before I came here, there were rumors about her having pledged her allegiance to him. No one knew for certain, and I know that Shou wanted me not to come in case they were true. We both have known that she would like little better than to glut herself on Marufuji blood.

Perhaps in this case he was wiser than I. I would send one message to the rebellion if I could: that there is nothing left in General Johan of Johan Andersen. He has no thoughts that are not in submissive adoration of Haou. If there is a way to free him, then I have no idea of what it could be.

I would be perhaps be more likely to free myself than to free him. At least what holds me are physical bonds. I could recover my clothes and deck if I could break these chains and find a way to freedom. But Johan doesn't even see what he suffers in as slavery at all.

I have only the barest sketch of ideas on what Haou actually did to him. Torment, I do not doubt. The pain Haou can conjure up from a single touch is without measure, and we know that Haou held him captive for years before General Johan came into existence.

Enough pain can break anyone. We've always known that. But to see it with my own eyes, to see the person I once called a friend as our enemy's eager supporter…

Perhaps it's just as well that I don't have much in my stomach. I don't think I could keep it there.

I don't hear the door open. But in between one breath and the next, Camula stands before me, and she is _smiling_.

I have always hated her smile. It comes close to Haou's for cruelty and the pleasure one finds in the suffering of others.

"So we meet again, Hell Kaiser," she says, eyes going up and down me as if I were a prime cut of steak.

Perhaps that's what she sees me as. I've spoken to other vampires, and they all speak of how Camula is the most terrifying and twisted of them all. I do not doubt that in the slightest.

"The pleasure is all yours," I reply, lifting up my head. She is not Haou. I can meet her eyes without pain. I _will_ do it.

Doing so is far harder than I imagined it would be. All this time of being punished if I so much as lift my head without permission… it's had an effect on me.

And she knows it. She smiles even more as she comes closer, one of those cold, long fingers of hers tracing down the side of my face.

"It has been so very long. And now I see you as you should be: exposed as the spy you are, bound to suffer Haou-sama's justice, and that justice is being given over to _me_."

I laugh. There's not much else I can do. If she were human, I would at least show a defiance of biting her, causing her pain. But that would get her filthy blood in me, and I won't have _that_.

I almost expect her to hit me. Any show of defiance of any kind has _always_ ended with pain since my capture. And yet she only smiles. That, by itself, is almost more terrifying than anything Haou has done to me.

She's too calm. Too smug. Too _satisfied_.

"I'm glad you didn't start without me." Haou, standing in the door now. He looks so _human_ , not at all like the monster that I know he is. Anyone who didn't know him would see nothing out of place. Casual clothing, a tunic and trousers and boots, all in shades of red.

I think red reminds him of blood and carnage, fire and destruction. He's caused all of those for so many people, why would he not wear the color of it?

But there is also black edging his garments, the color of death. Not the quiet peaceful death that comes at the proper time, but violent death that ends in negation for all time. That which he desires for the universe as a whole.

I asked once, why he wants that. I did it in part to maintain my cover, seeking to learn more of my 'liege lord', so that I could properly serve him. Or so was the impression I sought to give.

Partially I wanted to know why this monster existed and why he did what he did.

His words haunt me now.

 _I exist only to destroy. It's what I crave, like some people crave liquor or drugs. I was born to do this._

Camula only smiles at him, and I know that whatever they have in mind, they've long since decided it. They may drag out _my_ knowing of it, to enhance the pleasure of it for themselves, but they know already. Perhaps they decided it long before they ever knew that my loyalty never once lay with Haou.

It's only an idle thought, in truth. It doesn't matter what they've decided or when they did. What matters is that the time has come, and unless they choose to drag it out, _I'll_ know.

No sooner does Haou enter than my head drops. Not a feeling I enjoy by any means. But I hear his laughter, smug and satisfied, and once again he lifts my head up to meet my eyes with those acid-yellow ones of his.

Those are the mark that show what he is more so than anything else. No human has eyes like those.

"I've had people who tried to spy on me before, Marufuji Ryou. They never lasted long and I enjoyed killing them."

He may as well be telling me that the sun rises and sets.

"But you wanted to take my Johan away from me. For that, I have a fate that truly is worse than death in mind for you." He smiles. There are those who have been sent into madness by that smile. I refuse to be one of them. "You would welcome death. Embrace with all of your heart."

As much as the idea is distasteful, he's right. I would. Death would mean escaping him. Such a thing isn't allowed.

"But everything that's mortal has to die, sooner or later." Camula sounds so smug about the fact she isn't mortal. I know that she will die one day, though not of old age or disease, as a human might. No, someone will find a way to put a stake through her or expose her to the sun or something that will kill a vampire. "So we're going to change you. _I'm_ going to change you."

What she says makes the most horrible, horrifying, evil kind of sense. I strain harder than I ever have before at the chains and surely if there was any give to them, I would break them.

But there isn't. And I don't. They laugh at me. They know I know.

Camula licks her lips. "I haven't fed in two days. I need a very good meal, Hell Kaiser. And you're exactly what I want."

Her hands on me are colder than ice. I can't move. She comes closer and I can see her teeth, feel her breath, and then her fangs are on my neck.

It hurts. Those words don't even begin to encompass that agony, but what could?

I can hear her drinking and somewhere, there is laughing, triumphant cackles of glee in a man's voice. Darkness closes in, and not the sweet safety of death, though it's very like it.

I can still hear her, and the laughter.

"Here, my dear one. Here." And something thick and burning is dropped into my mouth.

The blood of a vampire.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
 **Series Title:** Reversals|| **Story Title:** To The End  
 **Character:** Ryou, Juudai  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 1,601||story: 4,714|| **Chapters:** 3/3  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Challenge, G6, three-shot; GX Non-Flash Bingo, #052, shock; Valentine's Day to White Day 2015, day #7, at least 4,000 words in first person POV; Advent 2016, day #14, write about anything; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #26, write a fic to your average word count (4,714 words); Easter Egg Basket 2016, day #22, do a fic for one of your New Year's Resolutions; One Character Boot Camp, #34, destruction  
 **Challenge Location:** All challenges can be found at the Duel Monsters Writing Academy Forum on FFnet.  
 **Notes:** This takes place in the reversal AU, during Ryou's time as Haou's prisoner.  
 **Summary:** Living as Haou's prisoner isn't the worst fate Ryou could have. But Haou plans to put him through what the worst fate actually is.

* * *

The light calls to me, clear and brilliant and offering peace that I have never known. Even before Haou came into the forefront of the world and began to crush it beneath his heel, peace like this seemed a fanciful dream more than an attainable goal.

But here it is, reaching for me, yearning for me as I realize I yearn for it. Here I will be safe. Here there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more seeing the world dying, only a peaceful wait until the day comes when I can live again.

A new body, a new life, a new destiny, perhaps.

I want it more than I can say.

But it is not mine. I am not allowed.

Her blood burns through me, chasing away the light and shrouding me in the darkness that only he commands, that she serves, that will not let me go, that binds me in chains that no amount of strength can break.

Her blood shatters what I was and remakes me into what she wants me to be.

Like her. Only worse. She lives, she has a heartbeat, though she ages only a fraction of how mortals do. She could reproduce, if she wanted.

But I am not like her, not now. I am not like any of the vampires who roam the world, those who were born into that state. They are different. I am different.

I do not breathe, not anymore. I do not need to eat or to drink… nothing like water or tea or any other mortal drink.

But there is something I crave and I will do anything in order to have it.

I can hear her voice. I know I hate her. I cannot help but hate her.

But her voice is the one I must obey at all costs. I have no choice. She is the one who made me.

If I could go for her throat I would. But she is like me, predator, not prey. She is faster and stronger than I am.

And worse, I cannot disobey her commands, and no sooner do I move, than she snaps one out.

"Stay where you are."

And so I must, though it is nothing at all of what I wish to do.

I can hear voices, though. Other voices. I only vaguely remember the time before, when I did not thirst as I do, when I fought against her and against _him_.

As I know I hate her, I know I hate him. He put me through this and much more. I suffer because he commands it. I exist now because he commands it.

He found a fate worse than death, the death I do not fear, and he pushed me into it.

To remain between life and death, sustained by taking from others, is the last thing I would have ever wanted. He knew this. He _knows_ this. And he smiles as he watches me.

Someone is dragged into the room. I look at him. I know who it is. I could not forget the one who betrayed me, who learned my secret and did not come looking for gold to buy his silence, but instead headed straight for the one who could grant him power in return for his information.

During my time in this place of pain, Haou brought me more agony than anyone else. But _no one else_ was to ever touch me. I was his to destroy in any way that he chose, unless he granted otherwise.

He gave Camula permission to change me.

He did not give Noble D'Noir permission to break my arm.

I'd wondered for a time what the punishment for that would be. Haou entered while the creature laughed about it and had him taken away. I heard screams for a while but when they stopped, I believed he'd killed Noble D'Noir.

Now I see that he didn't.

Noble D'Noir is a cousin to vampires. What he might be other than that, I do not know. But whatever he is, he is restrained in chains as powerful as the ones that held me were.

I realize only now that I am no longer chained. Why should I be, when a word or a gesture from Camula will keep me as tame as a kitten?

Not much else matters, though, and what does matter more than anything else is the blood I _know_ flows through Noble D'Noir. I can hear it. I can feel it. I know it's there.

I can't taste it. Not yet. But I want to so very much. I've never, ever felt this hungry in all of my… I've never felt this hungry.

I'm not alive anymore. I've passed beyond that.

"Battle," Haou's voice rings throughout the cell. "Whichever one of you survives will be my new favorite bloodsucker."

I don't care. I only want to feed.

Noble D'Noir shakes his head; I think he's confused. Good. Confused prey doesn't fight back as much.

I have no confusion. There is only the need.

I leap. In a moment he's pinned against the wall and he stares at me as if he's never seen me before. Then he looks beyond me, to where Haou and Camula are.

I don't know why. His death is here in front of him. What have they do to with anything.

"Feed, my child." Camula's voice is a silken purr. "Take what you need."

"Kill him," Haou's voice commands a breath later. "Do what I command you to do."

It's not for his sake that I strike. I will not say it is for hers, either. It is for mine. For the need that burns in me more than anything ever has or ever will.

Noble D'Noir isn't satisfying prey. He makes so little attempt to fight back, but he is fresh and full of blood. Recently fed, I can guess, probably to make him a fitter meal for me.

So I take what was made for me.

He shrieks. Never before has anyone cried out so much when I killed them. Of course, I also never dug long sharp teeth into their neck and did what came naturally to me at that point.

His cries end. He doesn't have much left to scream with. This first meal is far more delicious than I would have ever imagined blood would be. I'd never thought about it, considered it foul even to think about.

Now I can't get enough.

"Stop." Camula's voice again and at once I do stop. Her word is absolute law, whether I wish it so or not. "Come here."

I stand before them. It dawns upon me, quite slowly, that I am no more clothed now than I was before Camula changed me. I normally am far neater in my eating than this. But it doesn't seem to matter.

There isn't much that does matter. Everything feels set at a distance, as if there is some kind of wall between me and my emotions. I've never been one given to acting those out to extremes, but this is more so than ever before.

They both watch me. They both are so pleased. I wish they weren't.

"I think this is going to be the beginning of something magnificent," Haou says at least, reaching out to tilt up my head and staring down at me with those horrible eyes of his.

"I quite agree. Did you want anything else, Haou-sama?"

He smiles. It is not at all a pretty sight. "One more thing. Make him _mine_ , Camula."

At first I do not understand what he means by that. But then Camula speaks, and every word she says is seared into me.

"From this moment on, you will obey any and every command that Haou-sama gives you, as if I were the one who gave it to you. He is your master. You will address him as such and obey him as such. Do you understand?"

I do. I hate it with every fiber of my being, but I do understand, and I nod.

Not enough. Not for them.

"Speak it, Hell Kaiser," Haou commands. "Speak for your master."

I think he would treat a dog better. But Camula's commands cannot be refused, not by me.

"I understand, master." I loathe the way it sounds. I feel I'll have to say it many more times before I can find a way to break the compulsion.

Haou still has his hand on my head. I can see how mu ch he enjoys this. He isn't done.

"You will never ever attempt to bring any harm to me or to my Johan. You will defend my Johan with your own existence if such becomes necessary."

My purpose in coming here was to find out what he did to Johan, if it could be reversed, and if so, to bring Johan back to the resistance. I failed. Now it is my task to defend him from any who would try to do what I did not.

"Yes, master." I don't want them to. I will have to find a way to let them know. I can't imagine how. But I can imagine that he knows what I am thinking, because again, he smiles.

"You'll speak to your former comrades only when I allow it. This includes any hidden messages by any means I know or don't know of. You are _mine_ , Hell Kaiser. And what is mien does not speak to my enemies. Do you understand?"

He does it to hurt. It works.

"Yes, master. I do."

 **The End**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


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